Swat Expressway: Mardan village elders demand renaming of Katlang interchange

PESHAWAR: The elders of Babozai village in Mardan district have handed over an application to the Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority demanding naming of the Katlang Interchange located on the under-construction Swat Expressway as the Babozai Interchange.

The village elders in a signed application pointed out that the Katlang Interchange was being built on the ancestral land belonging to Babozai villagers and it should therefore be named as the Babozai Interchange. They argued that the interchange was located in Babozai instead of Katlang, but it was erroneously named the Katlang Interchange.

The village elders noted that the residents of Babozai as well as the adjoining Shamozai villagers had suffered as their land was acquired by the Pakhtunkhwa Highway Authority (PHA) and the Frontier Works Organization (FWO) to build not only the Swat Expressway but also the Katlang Interchange. They said the villagers had agreed to provide their ancestral land for the landmark development project of Swat Expressway, but they wanted recognition of their sacrifice by naming the Katlang Interchange as Babozai Interchange.

The elders asked the PHA and the FWO to consider their demand as it was genuine and name the interchange as the Babozai Interchange in keeping with the aspirations of the people.